


Retreat

by VaguelyCreativeName



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Community: HPFT, Dark, First War with Voldemort, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:14:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24895990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaguelyCreativeName/pseuds/VaguelyCreativeName
Summary: Missions don't always go according to plan. And sometimes, the only thing you can do is save yourself.
Kudos: 1





	Retreat

It was mayhem. Complete and utter chaos. The air smelt slightly burnt, after scores of curses hurled aimlessly through the night. The mock-cheerful display of colourful jinxes illuminating the dark alley for split seconds at a time morbidly reminded Mary of the night out celebrating her sister’s hen night a two weeks ago. She didn’t know why this image, of all things, sprang to mind because nothing could have been further removed from time spent dancing with her childhood friends than the god-awful mess she was currently stuck in. There had been screaming before, a horrifying orchestra of agony and fear, but the noise had almost ceased now. That was worse, because it meant that she and Benjy had failed in keeping innocents safe; that there was hardly anyone left to protect. But Mary couldn’t dwell on that, not when her own life was in danger. She was sure she’d find more than enough time to beat herself up about it later; about every miss, about every time she could have acted sooner, about not thinking on her feet fast enough.

Their mission was supposed to be boring, predictable, run-of-the-mill grunt work, but like innumerable other Order assignments over the past year, things had not gone according to plan. As Dumbledore had instructed, Mary met up with Benjy in Knockturn Alley at one o’clock sharp, where they were supposed to keep an eye on some of the shadier joints until daylight. But hardly an hour later, all hell had broken loose. Death Eaters had released a lethifold, they must have done so. Lethifolds weren’t native to Britain, Mary remembered, so there wasn’t a chance for this one’s sudden appearance to be a coincidence. The thing had glided past them, heading straight for the residential part of Diagon Alley,and Mary soon felt herself being pulled along by Benjy, running as fast as they could. They’d had no choice but to follow the creature, to try and stop it somehow, but all the while, Mary was left wondering what old Voldy would need this gruesome a distraction for.

That had been nearly two hours ago, and both Benjy and Mary were exhausted, and so terribly disheartened. Having sat her Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L had never before felt so miserably useless. While Mary couldn’t remember how to kill the wretched beast, she was able to recall vividly that a lethifold suffocated its victims when they were sleeping, wrapping itself around the body like a quilt, engulfing them in a semblance of comfort, lulling them into a false sense of security they only snapped out of when it was much too late. Every time Mary heard yet another muffled scream, the image of a sleeping child being smothered and digested in their bed kicked down the door to Mary’s mind unbidden and made itself at home. The screams, high-pitched and terrified, shattered every last bit of faith and hope Mary had been able to conjure, and were surely the most horrifying sounds she’d ever encountered, but the stifling silence that followed was infinitely worse. Mary didn’t want to know any of it, didn’t want to think about how the once thin, wispy lethifold was now probably thicker than her old winter coat.

The creature flew back out into the street through an open window, and Mary shot another Impediment Jinx at it. It didn’t do anything, of course, just like the dozen times she’d tried it before, or like Benjy’s severing charms, or even their joint stunners. None of it worked, but they’d grown desperate, and even a futile attempt was better than nothing at all.

“Shit.” She pulled Benjy up to his feet, and again they ran, aimlessly. Having finished its midnight feast, the lethifold had now detected them, and they needed to get away if they didn’t want to end up dessert.

But of course, they couldn’t outrun a lethifold; as humans, they had the great disadvantage of tiring, and soon, both of them were clutching their sides, gasping for breath. For the moment, Mary couldn’t see the beast, but she still didn’t think Benjy was wise in falling to his knees. She shot another Impediment Jinx in the direction of the creature before pressing herself flat back against the wall they’d stopped at.

“Get up, Fenwick, we need to move!”

Benjy was still on the ground, struggling to breathe. But not, as she now recognised, because he was winded, but because he was sobbing. Mary stared at Benjy, who’d always been so focused and collected, for far too long. Half a second later, she looked back over her shoulder, and saw that the lethifold was closing in on them, creeping up steadily like early morning fog.

“Move, Benjy!”

“Mary, please, I- I can’t.”

“Come on!” She yanked him up back to his feet, and they started running again, but Benjy’s uncoordinated efforts were weighing them down, and far too soon, they had to stop again. They needed to find a way of killing this thing if they ever wanted to make it out alive, to make sure no one else had to suffer because of their incompetence. Surely, she must know how to get rid of the lethifold, but Mary couldn’t remember.

“How do we kill it, Benjy? Think, please!”

Benjy was silent long enough for Mary to want to get moving again before he answered, with tears in his eyes. “Patroni.”

“Are you certain?” Mary could feel her last scrap of hope turn to shreds as she watched Benjy nod. How on earth were they meant to conjure up happy memories now? Silver mist erupted from Fenwick’s wand, but collapsed before it had fully formed.

“I want to go home. Mary, please –”

Benjy looked impossibly young just then, and as tired as Mary felt herself. This was madness, how could they ever have thought they could take on a lethifold? Why did magic have to be so bloody inconvenient that the only way to vanquish dark creatures were rainbows and unicorns? Mary supposed it did make sense, light in the darkness and whatnot, but she’d often thought they might be better off trying to defeat the Death Eaters at their own game if they were to stand any chance at winning the war. But of course, she couldn’t suffocate a lethifold and was left attempting to think stupid happy thoughts to conjure up her luminescent lynx. She tried to think of her little brother, so Paul took the place of the previously nameless child smothered by the lethifold. Tried to think of Hogwarts, and the good times she’d shared with her friends, but could only remember those that had been lost.

This time, it was Benjy who jerked her up from the ground, and pulled her along behind him, the two of them still fleeing aimlessly. They’d hit a dead end. Another puff of silver mist erupted from Benjy’s wand, but it was gone even sooner than the last. One look at Benjy’s shaking form was enough for Mary to cement her decision. The lethifold was closing in on them, and they’d never manage to kill it. They needed to get out, now!

“Fuck.” When Mary came to her feet in her flat, she felt a sharp. stinging sensation in her left hand, and a quick glance down revealed that she’d left behind two fingernails. Those would be a pain to grow back. She looked over to Benjy, who was leaning against her kitchen wall. He looked very pale, and shaky, but physically unharmed.

“Thanks, Mary,” he said, a weak smile forming on his face. The sight was bizarre after what had just happened. “You were a lifesaver back there. I wouldn’t have – Thank you, really.”

She dismissed him with a shake of her head, already checking if her protective enchantments were still in place. It was strange how quickly they fell back into protocol. Even as Mary renewed the last of the spells, Benjy had produced a patronus, properly this time, and recounted what had happened, with instructions to report to both Dumbledore and Moody. Mary was glad Benjy had done that, because even if she was no longer in immediate danger, but tucked away safely in her flat, she didn’t think she’d be able to shake those horrific scenes for a long while.

Twelve lives had been lost that night, and many more would follow during Mary’s time in the Order. She’d be sent out to countless other missions, and few of them ever went according to plan. She’d known she’d be risking her life before she joined, but nobody had told her she’d have to bargain with other people’s lives. It was alright getting hurt yourself, because you could recover from those injuries, but you couldn’t recover from others’. Mary learnt to cope, eventually, but she’d be haunted by the ghosts of missions past up to the final weeks of the war.


End file.
